As expected, the device will arrive in Aprilfour months after its intended release date. There is no word yet on pricing or global availability.

Eager fans can rest assured, though, that HTC has its head in the Vive game. CEO Cher Wang told the Telegraph that her company has turned its attention away from smartphones and toward virtual reality.

"Yes, smartphones are important, but to create a natural extension to other connected devices like wearables and virtual reality is more important," she said.

An HTC spokesman confirmed the Feb. 29 pre-order date, but declined to comment beyond those remarks published by the Telegraph.

In March, HTC and Valve announced a partnership to turn virtual dreams into reality. Nearly a year later, the Vive joins rivals Oculus Rift, Sony PlayStation VR, Samsung Gear VR, and LG VR for G3.

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But while headsets like the Google Cardboard require a docked smartphone, HTC's first stab at virtual reality tethers to and pulls content from a Windows PC, much like the Facebook-owned Rift.

Palmer Luckey's Oculus recently ruffled feathers when the company announced the $599 price tag of its upcoming wearablemore than the $350 "ballpark" Luckey suggested in the fall.

HTC showed off its second-generation developer kit, Vive Pre, at last week's CES. The company highlighted its front-facing camera, used to detect and integrate objects and walls in front of the wearer. The gadget also boasts 360-degree head tracking and a 90Hz refresh rate, as well as built-in sensors that allow users to interact with real environments around them.

Stephanie began as a PCMag reporter in May 2012. She moved to New York City from Frederick, Md., where she worked for four years as a multimedia reporter at the second-largest daily newspaper in Maryland. She interned at Baltimore magazine and graduated from Indiana University of Pennsylvania (in the town of Indiana, in the state of Pennsylvania) with a degree in journalism and mass communications.
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